Ludsin Labmates participate Halloween Fun Run

Andrew Foley & Kylee Wilson participated in Gourdy’s Pumpkin 5K fun run last weekend, along with some other AEL & EEOB friends. Andrew and AELer Joe Gentine are more seasoned runners, while the rest of the crew just had a great time out running and spending time with friends!Andrew Foley, Joe Gentine, & Kylee Wilson

Andrew finished 16th overall, 6th in the 20-29 age bracket & Joe finished 8th overall, 4th in the 20-29 age bracket

Dr. Ludsin presents webinar to USGS Great Lakes Science Center

On August 29, Stu Ludsin presented a webinar for the USGS Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor.

Title: Meeting the challenge of implementing ecosystem-based management in the North American Great Lakes Basin

Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43212, USA

Description: At a recent conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Ken Minns, Mohiuddin Munawar, and I hosted a workshop to learn how to enhance successful implementation of ecosystem-based approaches (hereafter, EbAs) to solve resource management, conservation, and societal problems globally. Herein, I provide insights gleaned primarily from a workshop writing exercise focused on identifying the key needs for and challenges to effective implementation of EbAs. We identified six categories of needs and challenges, spanning from the initial phases of EbA development (e.g., setting clear goals; getting stakeholder buy-in) to the final ones (e.g., adapting to change; maintaining program support). Setting clear goals aligned with a collective vision was identified as most critical to successful EbA implementation and offered the fewest barriers. By contrast, accounting for limitations in governance and navigating administrative constraints posed the biggest barrier, with inability to sustain support for EbAs and getting stakeholder buy-in being next most mentioned. These latter three challenges were also identified as critical to EbA success, thus helping us to understand why effective implementation of EbA has remained elusive globally. Sound science (and overcoming associated hurdles) and effective communication were also found essential. Ultimately, we assess the state of EbAs in the Great Lakes in relation to our workshop findings and conclude with recommendations on how promote successful

Kylee Wilson guest lectures at SUNY Brockport

Kylee Wilson guest lectured for Dr. Matthew Altenritter’s Fisheries Science and Management course at SUNY Brockport on September 11, 2023. Kylee’s lecture was titled “From frogs to fisheries: the journey of finding your passion through collaboration, exploration, and determination.” Kylee completed her master’s with Dr. Altenritter before coming to the AEL for her PhD.

Welcome to Andrew and Jacob!

The Ludsin Lab is welcoming two master’s students this fall:

Andrew Foley, who is joining us after completing his bachelor’s at the University of Florida. He will work on a project related to Yellow Perch production in Lake Erie.

Jacob Bentley, who has been with the Ludsin Lab as an undergraduate researcher for a couple of years. He completed his undergraduate thesis and graduated in the spring, and he will continue the work on catfish in Ohio reservoirs that he started in his thesis work as he embarks on his master’s.

New Ludsin Lab students Andrew Foley (center) and Jacob Bentley (right) pictured with another new AELer, Justin Furby (left), who will be working with Dr. Casey Pennock.

Ludsin Lab at AFS Grand Rapids 2023

Ludsin Lab masters student, Jacob Bentley, traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, with fellow AELers Rachael Finigan, Hannah Moore, and Dr. Casey Pennock to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society.

Jacob presented a poster on his undergraduate research at the AEL, titled, “Feeding ecology of a native and introduced Ictalurid in Ohio reservoirs.”

Congratulations, REU Students!

Dr. Ludsin and Ludsin Lab PhD student Kylee Wilson jointly oversaw undergraduate Olivia Houpt in the Aquatic Ecology & Fisheries Management Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the Aquatic Ecology Lab in partnership with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The students selected for the REU program participated in a variety of professional development and skill building sessions throughout the summer while also working with their advisors to create and execute a research plan that answered a specific question about an aquatic ecosystem or fishery in Ohio.

Olivia, along with her REU cohort, presented the results of their research on Friday, July 28. Olivia’s project was titled, “Understanding the Decline in Yellow Perch Angling Success in Lake Erie’s Western Basin.”

Fall 2023 Course Offerings

Dr. Stu Ludsin will be teaching two courses this fall: Fish Ecology and a graduate seminar, Foundations of Ecology.

EEOB 5430: Fish Ecology

Lecture: M & W (10:00-10:55 AM) in 116 Bolz Hall

Lab: W (11:10 AM-2:10 PM) in 224 Jennings Hall

This course has both a lecture and laboratory component. The lecture portion focuses on the behavior, migration, distribution, and evolution of fishes. The laboratory portion emphasize ecological and systematic ichthyology and includes field trips.

  • Gain hands-on field experience in Ohio streams & lakes
  • Discover coral reef, coastal marine, & freshwater fish ecology
  • Learn about human impacts on fish biodiversity & fisheries

Prerequisite: EEOB 3410, graduate student standing, or permission of instructor.

Find a flyer with this information here [pdf].

EEOB 8896.04: Foundations of Ecology

The purpose of this seminar is to introduce students to critical concepts and advances in the field of ecology. Towards this end, students will read papers from the peer-reviewed literature, both old and new. These papers will center on important foundational concepts in behavioral, population, community and ecosystem ecology (e.g., adaptationist program, life-history evolution, competition, predation, disturbance, food webs, biodiversity, spatial and temporal scale, ecosystem resilience, global change), and how they have changed during the past century or so, as well as why. These discussions should help us understand the emergence of more contemporary topics in ecology such as metabolic theory, metacommunities, regime shifts, and ecological epigenetics among other things, as well as how the methods used in ecology have evolved through time.

We will meet weekly for a 2-hour discussion on Monday afternoons during the entire semester. During each meeting, we will discuss a single topic, which will be based on 1- 2 readings from the peer-reviewed literature. Discussions each week will be facilitated by 1-2 students depending on class size.

Find a flyer with this information here [pdf].

AEL Summer Picnic

AELers had a wonderful time bringing their families and loved ones together with their colleagues for a summer picnic last weekend. Thank you to Jim Hood for hosting and grilling, and to everyone else for their delicious potluck dishes!

Dr. Ludsin delivers keynote at ecosystem management symposium

Dr. Stuart Ludsin gave a keynote address at the 1st Annual Centre for Ecosystem Management Symposium.

His talk was titled, “Meeting the challenge of implementing ecosystem-based management in the North American Great Lakes Basin.”

Welcome!

Ludsin Lab welcomes two new technicians on Kylee Wilson’s PhD research project: Neil Hamrick and Addie Zeisler. Additionally, Kylee is mentoring an OSU undergraduate student, Olivia Houpt, as part of an Ohio Division of Wildlife Research Experience for Undergraduates program being run through the AEL.

We also welcome Kevin Reeves, and undergraduate research aide who is joining us from Bowdoin College for the summer to help on Jacob Bentley’s catfish project.